In honor of Lady Bird Johnson, who died July 11, 2007, here is a 13 dedicated in her honor!

13 Facts about Lady Bird Johnson

1. She was born Claudia Alta Taylor on December 22, 1912

2. As an infant, her nursemaid proclaimed, “She’s pretty as a ladybird”, and that nickname stayed with her the rest of her life.

3. Her mother died from a fall when Lady Bird was only 6!

4. She became engaged to LB Johnson 7 weeks after meeting him and they were married November 17, 1934.

5. Lady Bird started a capital beautifaction project in DC for visitors and residents alike to improve the look of Washington.

6. She also promoted a program for Highway Beautification.

7. Lady Bird was an advocate of Head Start. (A national low-income preschool program that I used to work at!)

8. She was so well liked by the public that her husband once told her the public would have elected her before him!

9. She was a graduate of the University of Texas and became a big supporter of the athletic programs there.

10. Her husband died in 1973 when Lady Bird was 61. She was known to say that sometimes he just took her breath away1

11. Lady Bird has a park in Washington D.C. named after her.

12. She had at least 16 honorary degrees! Most were Doctors of Humane Letters.

13. On her 70th birthday she founded the National Wildflower Research Center, a nonprofit environmental organization dedicated to the preservation and re-establishment of native plants in natural and planned landscapes